TY - JOUR
T1 - Working Memory Predicts New Word Learning Over and Above Existing Vocabulary and Nonverbal IQ
AU - Gray, Shelley I.
AU - Levy, Roy
AU - Alt, Mary
AU - Hogan, Tiffany P.
AU - Cowan, Nelson
N1 - Funding Information:
1Participants in this study represent a portion of the participants in a larger sample from the Profiles of Working Memory and Word Learning (POWWER) project funded by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grant R01 DC010784. The POWWER project includes the group reported, as well as children with SLI (now referred to as developmental language disorder), children with dyslexia, children with comorbid dyslexia and SLI, and Spanish–English bilingual children with TD. All POWWER participants completed a total of six word learning games and a comprehensive battery of working memory tasks (see the work of Cabbage et al., 2017) over the course of at least 6 days.
Publisher Copyright:
2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use an established model of working memory in children to predict an established model of word learning to determine whether working memory explained word learning variance over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Method: One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking second graders (7-to 8year-olds) with typical development from two states participated. They completed a comprehensive battery of working memory assessments and six word learning tasks that assessed the creation, storage, retrieval, and production of phonological and semantic representations of novel nouns and verbs and the ability to link those representations. Results: A structural equation model with expressive vocabulary, nonverbal IQ, and three working memory factors predicting two word learning factors fit the data well. When working memory factors were entered as predictors after expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, they explained 45% of the variance in the phonological word learning factor and 17% of the variance in the semantic word learning factor. Thus, working memory explained a significant amount of word learning variance over and above expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Conclusion: Results show that working memory is a significant predictor of dynamic word learning over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, suggesting that a comprehensive working memory assessment has the potential to identify sources of word learning difficulties and to tailor word learning interventions to a child’s working memory strengths and weaknesses.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use an established model of working memory in children to predict an established model of word learning to determine whether working memory explained word learning variance over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Method: One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking second graders (7-to 8year-olds) with typical development from two states participated. They completed a comprehensive battery of working memory assessments and six word learning tasks that assessed the creation, storage, retrieval, and production of phonological and semantic representations of novel nouns and verbs and the ability to link those representations. Results: A structural equation model with expressive vocabulary, nonverbal IQ, and three working memory factors predicting two word learning factors fit the data well. When working memory factors were entered as predictors after expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, they explained 45% of the variance in the phonological word learning factor and 17% of the variance in the semantic word learning factor. Thus, working memory explained a significant amount of word learning variance over and above expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ. Conclusion: Results show that working memory is a significant predictor of dynamic word learning over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, suggesting that a comprehensive working memory assessment has the potential to identify sources of word learning difficulties and to tailor word learning interventions to a child’s working memory strengths and weaknesses.
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U2 - 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00397
DO - 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00397
M3 - Article
C2 - 35148490
AN - SCOPUS:85126072587
VL - 65
SP - 1044
EP - 1069
JO - Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders
JF - Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders
SN - 1092-4388
IS - 3
ER -